St. John’s Drops Nail-Biter against Harvard on Thanksgiving Day, 54-52

Thursday, November 28

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

6-1,0-0Big East

RV Harvard

9-1,0-0Ivy League

Harvard

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Drops Nail-Biter against Harvard on Thanksgiving Day, 54-52

11/28/2024 2:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Harvard’s Harmoni Turner hit the game-winner with :01 to play

QUEENS, N.Y.– The St. John's women's basketball team fell in a nail-biter to RV Harvard on Thanksgiving Day, 54-52.

After trailing by double-digits in the second half, the Red Storm surged back and tied the game with just 0:07 to play before Harvard's Harmoni Turner hit the game-winner with just a single second to play.

St. John's falls to 6-1 and Harvard moved to 9-1 on the year, earning its fourth win in six days.

Lashae Dwyer had another strong performance for the Johnnies' tallying 18 points, six rebounds and four steals. The Miami transfer has finished in double-figures in seven of eight games this season.

Ber'Nyah Mayo finished in double-figures adding 11 points on the afternoon in Queens. The graduate student shot 4-for-8 from the field.

Harvard's Harmoni Turner led all scorers with 27 points, including 23 in the second half.

St. John's displayed another strong performance from the charity stripe going 11-for-13 (84.6%) from the free throw line.

In the opening frame, neither team scored for the first free minutes before Dwyer broke the stalemate with a lay-up in traffic. Dwyer forced a steal and threw a long pass to Ariana Vanderhoop for the fastbreak finish, 6-4. Both teams struggled offensively as St. John's held Harvard to 2-for-15 shooting (13.3%) and 0-for-6 from 3-point range in the first quarter. Vanderhoop tallied the final bucket of the frame as the Johnnies gained an 8-4 edge in a low-scoring first 10 minutes.

In the second stanza, the Red Storm found its shooting stroke spurring a 13-4 run to open the quarter. Mayo tallied five-straight points flushing a floater and a corner triple. Dwyer got rolling with an and one and a made triple as the Johnnies advantage grew to 13, 21-8. The Red Storm continued to lockdown defensively over the final minutes of the half forcing 11 turnovers and went into the locker room with a nine-point advantage, 23-14. After allowing just nine points in the second half against Stony Brook, it marked the second-straight half of letting up less than 15 points.

In the third frame, Crimson stormed back with a 12-0 run over just a minute of game time fueled by three triples from Turner to take Harvard's first lead of the game. Mayo brought the scoring stretch to a half with a crafty finish with 6:00 remaining in the third, 29-27. The two sides continued to go back-and-forth as Phoenix Gedeon made a pivotal play deflecting a pass near mid-court and took it all the way for the finish. The Crimson continued to control stringing together another 12-0 stretch to take a double-digit lead. Skye Owen drained a mid-range jumper with 0:14 left in the frame to trim the deficit to nine, 43-34, heading into the fourth.

In the final frame, Dwyer provided an energy boost with a huge steal that led to an and one finish energizing a Johnnies' comeback. Owen triple three in the corner… As the game came down to the wire, Mayo converted a big bucket and drew the foul. Jailah Donald had a good look in the corner for the game-tying triple but it was off the mark. After Harvard split at the line, St. John's had possession with 11.9 to play. Mayo got fouled on the drive and converted both from the line to knot the score at 52, with seven seconds left to play. The Crimson gave it to their leading scorer, who streaked down the floor and flushed a fall-away floater with 0:01 to play. Kylie Lavelle launched a long inbound that Mayo jumped up and grabbed it, but was unable to get a clean look at the buzzer.

For its next contest the Red Storm will hit the road to face undefeated Penn State on Monday, Dec. 2. The contest from the Bryce Jordan Center will tip-off at 7 p.m. and will air on the Big Ten Network.